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As I realized for the second time this month, it's hard to book a ride online during the Ramazan. The long wait was not a problem for Wajahat Rauf. The director of the upcoming romantic comedy-drama (or as he calls it "a family film") was a good company.
Rauf's carefree, frank and open attitude is refreshing and somewhat contagious, as we talk about his next film Chhalawa – an output of Eidul Fitr that may sound quite familiar; but that, if you ask him, is a good thing, although he tells you, in the most subtle way possible, to reserve the final opinion until the film's release.
An output of Eveready and Hum Films, Chhalawa seems to be a stereotypical film about a hero brimming with personality who walks in a wedding to take away the bride. Sounds familiar to you, does not it?
"It was not so obvious when I was writing the movie," Rauf told me. "However, I realized that as soon as I wrote that the girl lived in Punjab, people would instantly compare it with Dilwale Dulhaniya The Jaeingey (DDLJ) and Punjab Nahin Jaungi (NPC). Even if it's a reversal. In NPC, the girl was from Karachi and Humayun, Punjab. "
The actress is the same thing, but I add that, again, we have so little choice.
Rauf has already made peace with the fact that the film will make comparisons , as different as they are: "The wedding dresses would look like DDLJ's or NPC's, the accent would be similar, a thousand comparisons will appear," he said.
"Just a few days ago, someone told me that the bridge scene in my film [evident in the trailer] seemed to have been inspired by the apogee of DDLJ, where Shah Rukh Khan was beaten with batons.It is as if no one had been beaten in Bollywood before that, "says Rauf.
" Then there are frame-by-frame comparisons of the last scene of DDLJ's song "Ruk Jaa O Dil Deewanay", where SRK drops Kajol and she falls, and the scene [also in the trailer] where Asad Siddiqui loses hold on Zara Noor Abbas and where she falls, "he said. pursued.
People will see what they want to see.
Sometimes Rauf deliberately usurped the genre. "I own it," says Rauf. "It was sometimes deliberate."
There is a scene in the movie where Azfar Rehman, the lead actor of the movie, SRK Monkeys and Mehwish Hayat, the brave heroine, the Call for his clichéd approach. "These centuries-old dialogues do not work anymore," says Mehwish's character to Azfar.
"It is impossible to make a film in India or Pakistan without making comparisons with DDLJ.Marriages are marriages.The hero will come to win the girl and there will be problems.This is the oldest formula in the world.Pakistani movies, in particular, will be compared to DDLJ, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun and to NPCs.Anyone actually asked this.If you badociate my film with if big names, it's an honor for me, and if I get even 10% of what they did at the box office, I'd be like winning the lottery, "he laughs.
"If you match my film to big names like DDLJ and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun then it's an honor for me, and if I get 10% of what they have at the box office, I would be as if I won the lottery. "- Wajahat Rauf
So, why do anything that makes comparisons – and why in particular, make a film about weddings? "I've never done it before," Rauf said. "Both Karachi Se Lahore (KSL) and Lahore Se Aagay were 100% comedies. I did not add emotion to them, consciously. They were created with the idea of doing only songs and comedy, followed by other comedies and songs. Nobody cries in the movie and no one tries to make someone cry.
"When you add an age group of 30 and up, you have to add festivities, songs, clothes, because that's the family going to the public," he continues.
"We can not have thirty people who go on road trip, it's for the youngest audience. You must add emotions. You have the father-daughter relationship in the movie, which addresses to a different, more mature audience. Although comedy is always stupid, "he says. "It's not a vulgar or adult comedy. You will always think it's a Wajahat Rauf movie.
Rauf had already finished writing the KSL sequel, when he felt the need to try something else first. "I had the impression of repeating myself. It was exactly the same movie (genre), working on the same narrative tropes. I thought the public would not spare me if he had to see the same thing again, "he says.
Rauf was shooting Enaaya his web series published by Eros Now. him – and it did not take him so long to shoot the movie. The actors – the main actors in particular – are those of Enaaya .
They were on the set and they were having a good time, so why ruin an opportunity, Rauf says. The film has shifted to post-production in five months, he tells me. "It must be a record," he says.
You should meet Azfar and Mehwish, Rauf told me. "They are very funny." It's easier said than done, although Rauf and his wife, Shazia, who is also the producer of the film, are doing their best to organize the meetings.
Azfar Rehman is busy filming. a television series. Mehwish Hayat is in London, but in a day or two.
A day later, near Maghreb time, I find myself waiting for an online tour, this time on the film set of Azfar Rehman. Rauf was right about the carefree enthusiasm of his casting. Rehman is as joyously distant as they come. "In a way, the main character – Sameer – is like me," says Rehman. "He's a very playful guy, relaxed and in love. The zaalim samaaj intervenes in not letting him regain the love of his life. So he goes out of his way and tries his luck.
"He is no different from any other boy – or any other boy in love – in the country. Or all the other boys who are on Tik Tok these days. He is a stereotyped person and very badimilable, "he continues. But it's not a bit too cliché, I ask. "We do cliché things every day in life. A little cliché, it's ok, "he answers.
Back at Rauf, we had discussed the need to have a big star in the movie. In the film, this star is Mehwish Hayat. It's a fact that Rehman is happy to concede. "I think it's a fair bit to perceive it that way. Mehwish is a big movie star and, of course, his character is slightly stronger than mine.
We seem to be producing a lot of women-centered films lately, I told him. Do you want to call it like that? "It's a women-centered film, but more than calling it women-centric, I would call it a family-oriented film. It's more a family issue. Learn more about the father-daughter relationship. We put more emphasis on the heroin family than my family. Mehwish is more interested in her family and her life, so I think we should have women-centered films, "says Rehman in a roundabout way.
A few hours before my deadline, Mehwish Hayat, who is finally back in Pakistan, tells me about his character via the WhatApp messages. "(Zoya) is a brave, well-grounded girl who knows what she wants and will not be drawn into areas she does not agree with. It is rare to have such a movie focused on heroin in Pakistan, that's what drew me to the screenplay.
"I was fortunate to be involved early in the process, while Wahajat was still helping to shape the character very early," she wrote in response to another question. "The realization of a character is, of course, the vision of the director, but what I bring to the film, it is my interpretation of this vision."
"It is rare that a heroin-centered film looks like Chhalawa in Pakistan, that's what attracted me to his scenario." – Mehwish Hayat
Does she actively choose roles with substantial depth in the characters, or are they simply those that are proposed to her, I ask. "I'm lucky to be very picky about my roles. I choose roles that appeal to me and challenge me as an actress. It is fair to say that I refuse a significant number of proposed roles because they are a bit the same.
Each of his recent titles happens to be (or have a connotation of) comedy. Is it also deliberate, I ask. "Yes, it's true, comedy is an excellent leveler that everyone likes, no matter who it is, it's through comedy that we'll be able to address the nonsense of life and make sure that very strong social messages are accessible to the public.This is through a comedy such as Load Wedding that we were able to address the dot issue, and that the # The Assembly of Punjab has considered it now. "
But is there another reason for this, I wonder: Serious and strongly written female roles, in essentially commercial dramas, have become a norm in Pakistan, does she think our filmmakers choose to do it deliberately – or to be precise, usually – because they have been exposed to television and unknowingly address a key television audience, I ask you.
"This is neither deliberate nor usual. years anyway, "she replies. "Our directors only give the audience what they expect from our films. Yes, of course, it goes without saying that most of our filmmakers were right in our TV drama industry and that some of the tropes in the story were postponed. Pakistani cinema is still in its infancy and is still trying to find its own identity. Until it disappears, the parallels with the drama [TV] are inevitable. "
Our conversation becomes a little too serious for a movie mainly, family fun and festivities – which was, again, one of the reasons this movie released this Eidul Fitr.
Aside the kind, Rauf did not taste at the box office of a release of Eid, I remember him me.Her last two editions appeared between two previous Eids, in November
Although, superficially, Chhalawa may seem like a familiar fodder, Rauf, who has shown growing growth as a filmmaker, is slowly but steadily developing his horizons. not that he tries all genres in the film (he is a science fiction buff who admits he can not create one, it's just not him, he says). moment, it's just a slight detour towards maturity – although, in his own words, "Only in the second half of the film".
Originally published in Dawn, ICON, May 19, 2019
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